SOPHOMORE LEADS RAMONA TO TITLE

SPRING VALLEY 
Arturo Osario didn’t begin wrestling until he entered Ramona High. That was two years ago.

The sophomore wrestled like a veteran at Saturday’s section Division III finals, capturing the 125-pound weight class championship. He did so in dramatic fashion as he turned a 6-2 lead into a pin of Mount Miguel’s Damian Escalera in 5:32.

Osario said his sudden reversal on Escalera was nothing special.

“It wasn’t really a move,” Osario said. “It was just my heart. I wanted it, I really wanted to win.”

Osario registered three pins and one major decision in the tournament. Not bad for a No. 5 seed.

“I guess you could say I was kinda surprised I won,” he said. “I dislocated my patella a couple of weeks ago and missed three weeks of the season.”

This was the first time Osario had ever wrestled Escalera. He said he didn’t view that as an advantage or a disadvantage, but he was anything but passive once he got on the mat.

“I wanted to take it to him,” Osario said. “I wanted to be the aggressor. I wanted to keep attacking him and make him defend my moves.”

Ramona ran away with the team championship with 237 points. El Centro Central was second with 173.5 and Mt. Carmel was third with 164.5.

Although five Bulldogs reached the finals, Isaiah Ilich (135) was Ramona’s only other weight class champion. However, the team’s overall depth — 12 of its 14 wrestlers contributed to the scoring — made the difference.

Central had four weight-class champions — twice as many as any other team.